1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a traffic situation prediction apparatus and a traffic situation prediction method for predicting a change in the traffic situation in the future from the traffic situation in the past.
2. Background Art
Conventionally, a probe car is often used to predict a traffic situation on the road. The probe car is the vehicle that mounts the in-car equipment comprising various sensors and a communication apparatus to collect data such as vehicle position and traveling speed from various sensors, and transmit the collected data (hereinafter probe car data) to a predetermined traffic information center. The probe car is often a taxi in cooperation with a taxi company, or a private car under the contract with the user as a part of traffic information services intended for the private car, for example.
JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2004-362197 disclosed the invention for predicting a change in the traffic situation by measuring a change pattern of the necessary time at present with the road sensor or probe car and retrieving the analogous change pattern from the history of the necessary time in the past.